Quick update, 1500 local time, Friday 6th June 2014
Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Sat 7 Jun 2014 00:44
We ran 141 nautical miles noon to noon on both our first and second day
which is not bad for Tashi Delek (well actually not bad for Mike and Carol,
Tashi Delek can go faster than that, it is us that choose not to). Now the
wind has dropped , as forecast, and moved from south of east to north of
east which makes it more difficult for us to keep on the course we want to.
We were sailing quite well though with headsail and stay sail poled out
either side at the front but the wind has just died completely. Sails are
now away and the engine on in order to keep any sort of worthwhile forward
momentum. Noisy and annoying but we can use the time to run the watermaker
and fill the tanks.
We caught a fish at dusk yesterday but it broke the line. Carol was winding
the line in for the night when there was an almighty tug and then a lot of
drag and then nothing at all. Sure enough when the line came in the fish
had got the lot, lure, swivels and tracer wire. We are trying again today.
The other boats are ahead of us so will have less of this no-wind situation
before they arrive. Sud Oest and Elenor went through today, Malua and Moana
Roa are on track to go through tomorrow and we will follow on Sunday by the
looks of it. By 'Go through' we mean go through the cut. Look on Google
Earth and you will see that the atolls are huge circles of coral, many miles
wide with just one or two gaps in the circle. These are the gaps that you
go through but they are very tidal and the currents are exaggerated by the
pressure of water that builds up inside the atoll from the water that is
blown in from the windward side, that is the side facing the wind. This
additional water has to escape somehow and the line of least resistance is
through one of the gaps. Therefore, in order to avoid standing waves,
eddies and whirlpools you go through at slack water which happens when the
tide is turning. In addition, in order to see where you are going and keep
a proper lookout for the coral heads you need daylight. So there may only
be one or two chances per day to get through and if you arrive at the end of
a three or four day passage having just missed you chance you may have to
wait 12 or 24 hours to go. As always we are getting a lot of information
about tides, times, depths, coral heads and so on from the boats that are
already there so that is a huge help.
So, at the moment, with these conditions it looks as though we will reach
the area on Sunday morning but when we actually drop anchor in Kauehi is
still uncertain.
All is well though. The sea is quite rolly but nothing like we have
experienced before and we have had 3 or 4 squalls but only clipped the edge
of them and they were rainy rather than windy.